Only Human
by Andrea P. Quintell
Summary: Luke Skywalker is the galaxy's greatest hero. But being the galaxy's greatest hero isn't all it's cracked up to be... oneshot


**All characters, ideas, etc. are from George Lucas, etc, not making money off this, blah blah blah you know the drill. **

It had been "one of those days" all week. No, all month. He might even go so far as to say all year.

Of course, if by "year" he meant "decade"…

Luke sighed. _Why don't things ever slow down?_ Little had he known what he was in for that day Uncle Owen bought those two droids. He'd tried to buy that piece of junk R5-D4 unit, but somehow, Fate had been with him (or against him?), and he'd had a bad motivator. Figures. _This IS Luke Skywalker we're talking about here_, Luke thought to himself. _Why should things ever go the easy way?_

Really, all he'd wanted was to go into Tosche Station that day. Maybe go hang out with the gang—sure, Fixer could be a real jerk sometimes, Camie was a barnacle at his side, Deak and Windy and Tank made fun of him and referred to him as "Wormie" or "the Kid" (_It's not my fault I'm a full three seasons behind the youngest of them!_)… Biggs was the only one who was a real friend, and he'd been off at the Academy by then. Still, better to be uncomfortable and familiar, right?

But no. It wasn't that Luke resented Threepio or Artoo. He loved them—well, not as much as he loved Mara or Leia or Ben, of course, but in the way human beings can become very attached to droids who have been with them for what seems like forever—and he didn't know what he'd do without them. Artoo had certainly saved his hide a number of times simply by being in the right X-wing at the right time. He and Artoo were a team, nobody had any doubt about that. And Threepio, Force help him, did the best he could not to be TOO annoying, and he did have a good heart… or… whatever it was that made him go. It certainly wasn't the droids' fault he was in this situation now. Well, okay, maybe it was, but he didn't blame them.

And yet… Luke wondered what things would have been like if he'd done exactly what he thought he'd wanted at the time. If he'd joined up with the Imperial Space Academy, sent his application out behind Uncle Owen's back, and gone off to be with Biggs. Of course he hadn't known at the time that Biggs was going to show up on Yavin 4 with the rest of the Rebels.

_I wonder if Biggs would still be alive… if only…_

No. There was no "if only". Luke had simply followed his destiny, although he hadn't known it at the time. If he'd never met Artoo and Threepio, if he'd never gotten off that pathetic excuse for a homeworld, where would he be now? Just another moisture farmer with small profits and big dreams? Certainly not anything close to resembling the galaxy's most powerful Jedi Master. Certainly not Luke Skywalker, Hero Of The Universe. Luke Skywalker, the great Luke Skywalker who Saved Us All From The Evil Galactic Empire.

Luke Skywalker, who'd had to fight with his life against one of the greatest evils the galaxy had ever known: his own father.

As little as Luke knew about the life and ways of Darth Vader, he knew even less about the man who was once known as Anakin Skywalker. Of course he'd managed to dig up a few factoids now and then; there was information in libraries and on the HoloNet. But no matter what he could learn, there was always something missing. Anakin Skywalker had once been a man. A man who had a heart and a soul, and a man who had loved. A man who had loved a woman, a man who was a father, and a man who, after delving into the deepest pits of the Dark Side, had returned to the Light at the very end, as he died in the arms of the son he'd not previously laid eyes upon.

Sometimes it scared Luke how very similar he must be to that man. He'd seen holos; he knew that the dark blonde hair, the piercing blue eyes… those were the same. In some regards, Luke was Anakin. The talented pilot, the young boy growing up on Tatooine, the Jedi Knight studying under Ben Kenobi and Yoda. And beneath the exterior, Luke was who Anakin had been: a man. Just an ordinary human being with hopes, fears, desires, and dreams. Just like all creatures.

Of course, Luke occasionally wished things were simple. He wished he didn't have the entire weight of the galaxy resting on his shoulders day in and day out. He would give everything he had just to be able to spend one day, one week, one year with his beautiful wife and handsome son. Ben would only be young once, and Luke was too busy to be the father he wanted to be. Someone always needed saving, or advice, or… stang it all, someone always needed HIM. Someone always needed Luke Skywalker to help, because Luke Skywalker knew everything, and Luke Skywalker was omnipotent, and Luke Skywalker was infallible…

Luke Skywalker was, above all, human. And he did the best he could, why couldn't the Force-forsaken galaxy realize that for once? Why wasn't he allowed to be himself? Why wasn't he allowed to go traveling with Mara and Ben, like other normal families? To have the biggest worry in his life concern him and his family, not a bunch of strangers… how did people manage it?

Luke closed his eyes and felt the familiar presence of the Force wash over him, calming his mind and putting his soul at ease. He couldn't wait to get back from this stupid mission and get home to Mara, to have her in his arms again, to hold his son (_he's gotten so big in the last three years!)_, and to be himself again.

After all… he was only human.


End file.
